Giraffic Park! Terrified safari tourists in Jeep chased for two miles by crazed animal

Giraffic Park! Terrified safari tourists in Jeep chased for two miles by crazed animal13ft male gave chase during tour of South African savannahRan after 4X4s for two miles and kicked out at driver smashing wing mirrorNo one injured although tourists left badly shaken by incident'Hormonal imbalance' thought to be behind unusual outburst

By
Steve Robson

PUBLISHED:

11:44 GMT, 22 March 2013

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UPDATED:

17:02 GMT, 22 March 2013

This is the moment terrified safari tourists were attacked in their jeep by a two-and-a-half tonne giraffe.

The 13ft giant chased and barged the vehicle through two miles of South African savannah – in scenes reminiscent of the T-Rex in the film Jurassic Park.

Giraffe attacks are rare and this male is thought to be suffering from an 'hormonal imbalance'.

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Fear: One of the tourists appears terrified as the angry bull giraffe can be seen chasing them in the background

Attack: The giraffe is believed to be suffering a hormonal imbalance which triggered the unusual outburst

Terror: At first the giraffe had only seem intrigued by the tourists but then began charging at their vehicle

On the charge: The giraffe kicked off a wing mirror from one of the vehicles during its rampage

Cameraman Rainer Schimpf, who captured the dramatic footage, said: 'There was laughter; then tension; then fear. The giraffe saw the game vehicle miles away and started walking to it, intimidating the passengers.

'Once the guests started feeling uncomfortable, the driver took off. The giraffe followed curiously at first rather than aggressively trying to look people in the eyes.

'Once he caught up with the car in a gallop the giraffe kicked at the driver and knocked off the right wing-mirror of the Toyota Land Cruiser.

Scared: No one was injured during the giraffe attack but the tourists were left a little shaken

Hold on for dear life: A tourist clings on as the driver tries to speed away from the chasing giraffe

Prehistoric: The chase was reminiscent of the scenes involving the T-Rex in the film Jurassic Park

'The driver, who was unhurt, stopped and backed up. The laughter and fun was gone then and we tried to escape – but the giraffe followed in a full gallop uphill until we reached the fence.”

The two-and-a-half tonne giraffe is well-known in the park for its odd behaviour but had never attacked humans before.

The relieved passengers – which included German tourist Silke Ptaszynski, South Africans Sarene Carter and Mavis Carter, and driver Trevor – were left shaken but able to laugh about their experience back at camp.